KENOSHA — Residents in Kenosha have received phone calls from scammers claiming to be law enforcement officers. The Kenosha Sheriff's Department is warning the public to hang up such calls.
Cristina Jones is a Kenosha native and she recently received a phone call from someone impersonating a police officer. They instructed her that she needed to pay to avoid going to jail.
"This was like terrorizing someone, they knew so much about me, and that's when they absolutely terrified us," Jones said.
She said that they called her from a Kenosha Police Department phone number and when she called back the number, it went to a "detective's desk."
"They just had it all laid out and it was pretty scary," Jones said. “This was just beyond scamming someone out of their money."
Watch: Kenosha residents experience scary scam calls.
Jones recorded the phone call with the scammer who told her that she had a pending court case and they had issued a warrant for her arrest, unless she paid for her bond.
Nicole Alfano is a close family member and was with Jones during the phone call. She said that they were given badge numbers as well as case numbers.
"It was crazy and quite terrifying," Alfano said.
As Alfano posted it on social media, she hopes to spread awareness so that others might not fall victim to such scam calls.
"Thankfully we were in a circumstance where we knew this wasn't right, but other people may not know that," Alfano said.
Sgt. Colin Coultrip of the Kenosha Sheriff's Department says, "when in doubt, hang up."
“Essentially what these scammers are asking and telling, scaring our community members by saying, if you don’t pay we’re going to arrest you," Coultrip said. "That will never happen from law enforcement.”
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